τέλειος

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

• τέλεος (téleos)

Etymology

From τέλος (télos, “end”) +‎ -ιος (-ios, adjective suffix). Related to, and largely synonymous with, τελήεις (telḗeis).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /té.leː.os/ → /ˈte.li.os/ → /ˈte.li.os/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /té.leː.os/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈte.li.os/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈte.li.os/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈte.li.os/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈte.li.os/

Adjective

τέλειος • (téleios) m (feminine τελείᾱ, neuter τέλειον); first/second declension

τέλειος • (téleios) m or f (neuter τέλειον); second declension

1. having reached its end, finished
   1. (of victims) complete, perfect, entire, without blemish
      • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 1.66
      • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 24.34
      • 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 5.47
      • 440 BCE – 390 BCE, Andocides, On the Mysteries 97
      • 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Demosthenes, Against Neaera 60
      • 428 BCE – 347 BCE, Plato, Phaedrus 249C
      • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 8.247
      • 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 24.315
   2. (of animals and humans) full-grown, adult
      • 458 BCE, Aeschylus, Agamemnon 1504
      • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 1.183
      • 5th century BC, Pherecrates, Fragmenta 44
      • 129 CE – 216 CE, Galen, Collected Works 7.677
      • 428 BCE – 347 BCE, Plato, Laws 834C
      • 125 CE – 200 CE, Lucian, Timon 50
      • 428 BCE – 347 BCE, Plato, Laws 929C
      • 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Cyropaedia 1.2.4
      • 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Cyropaedia 1.2.12–14
      • 50 CE – 150 CE, Soranus, Collected Works 1.10
   3. (of persons) absolute, complete, accomplished, perfect
      • 436 BCE – 338 BCE, Isocrates, Panathenaicus 32
      • 386 BCE – 367 BCE, Plato, Cratylus 403E
      • 428 BCE – 347 BCE, Plato, Phaedrus 269E
      • 360 BCE, Plato, Timaeus 30D
      • 428 BCE – 347 BCE, Plato, Laws 647D
      • 428 BCE – 347 BCE, Plato, Laws 678B
      • 436 BCE – 338 BCE, Isocrates, Panathenaicus 9
      • 436 BCE – 338 BCE, Isocrates, Letters 4.3
      • 129 CE – 216 CE, Galen, Collected Works 15.60
      • 50 CE – 150 CE, Soranus, Collected Works 1.4
      1. (of things)
         • 366 BCE – 348 BCE, Plato, Critias 106B
         • 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics 1129B.30
         • 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics 1156B.34
         • 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Prior Analytics 271A.1
         • 129 CE – 216 CE, Galen, Collected Works 6.169
         • 460 BCE – 370 BCE, Hippocrates of Kos, Prorrhetics 2.30
         • 129 CE – 216 CE, Galen, Collected Works 16.500
         • 380 BCE, Plato, The Republic 348B
         • 380 BCE, Plato, The Republic 344A
   4. (of statues) life-sized
      • ICret II 3, 4 C, ll. 7-8
   5. (of prayers, vows, etc.) fulfilled, accomplished
      • 522 BCE – 443 BCE, Pindar, Fragments 122.15
      • 522 BCE – 443 BCE, Pindar, Pythian Ode 9.89
      • 467 BCE, Aeschylus, Seven Against Thebes 832
      • 458 BCE, Aeschylus, Agamemnon 1432
      • 411 BCE, Aristophanes, Thesmophoriazusae 353
      • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 1.121
      • 7th–6th centuries BC, Homeric Hymn to Hermes 526
      • 380 BCE, Plato, The Republic 443B
   6. (of numbers) full, complete
      • 425 BCE, Aristophanes, Lysistrata 104
      • 360 BCE, Plato, Timaeus 39D
      1. (in arithmetic) those numbers which are equal to the sum of their divisors
         • 380 BCE, Plato, The Republic 546B
         • 350 BCE – 250 BCE, Euclid, Elements 7
         • 50 CE – 150 CE, Theon of Smyrna, On Mathematics Useful for the Understanding of Plato 45
         • 60 CE – 120 CE, Nicomachus, Introduction to Arithmetic 1.16
         • c. 245 CE – c. 325 CE, Iamblichus Chalcidensis, Theological principles of arithmetic 58
   7. the third bowl offered to Zeus
      • 446 BCE – 386 BCE, Aristophanes, Fragments 526
      • 480 BCE – 406 BCE, Euripides, Fragments 148
2. (of the gods) perfect, omnipotent, infinite
   • 458 BCE, Aeschylus, Agamemnon 973
   • 522 BCE – 443 BCE, Pindar, Olympian Ode 13.115
   • 522 BCE – 443 BCE, Pindar, Pythian Ode 1.67
   • 458 BCE, Aeschylus, The Eumenides 28
   • 470 BCE, Aeschylus, The Suppliants 526
   • 522 BCE – 443 BCE, Pindar, Nemean Ode 10.18
   • 458 BCE, Aeschylus, The Eumenides 214
   • 525 BCE – 455 BCE, Aeschylus, Fragments 383
   • 411 BCE, Aristophanes, Thesmophoriazusae 973
   • 300 BCE – 200 BCE, Theocritus, Collected Works 25.22
   • 458 BCE, Aeschylus, The Eumenides 382
   • 467 BCE, Aeschylus, Seven Against Thebes 167
   • 458 BCE, Aeschylus, Agamemnon 972
3. last
   • 497 BCE – 405 BCE, Sophocles, Women of Trachis 948
4. (neuter substantive) a royal banquet
   • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 9.110
5. (feminine substantive) a full stop, period
   • 170 BCE – 90 BCE, Dionysius Thrax, Art of Grammar 630.6
6. (adverb) at last
   • 458 BCE, Aeschylus, The Eumenides 320
   • 458 BCE, Aeschylus, The Eumenides 953
   1. completely, absolutely
      • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 1.120
      • 411 BCE, Aristophanes, Thesmophoriazusae 329
      • 4th century BC, Isaeus, Euphiletus 4
      • 430 BCE – 354 BCE, Xenophon, Symposium 2.2
      • 366 BCE – 348 BCE, Plato, Theaetetus 182C
      • 129 CE – 216 CE, Galen, Collected Works 6.286
      • 485 BCE – 380 BCE, Gorgias, Encomium of Helen 18
      • 436 BCE – 338 BCE, Isocrates, Against the Sophists 18
      • 428 BCE – 347 BCE, Plato, Definitions 411D
      • 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Metaphysics 1021B.26
      • 300 BCE – 200 BCE, Septuagint, Judith 11.6
      • 129 CE – 216 CE, Galen, Collected Works 16.639
   2. (the neuter is also used as an adverb)
      • 125 CE – 200 CE, Lucian, On Salaried Posts in Great Houses 5
      • 95 CE – 165 CE, Appian, Civil Wars 1.8
      • 50 CE – 150 CE, Soranus, Collected Works 2.56

Inflection

First and second declension of τέλειος; τελείᾱ; τέλειον (Attic)

Number		Singular				Dual				Plural
Case/Gender		Masculine	Feminine	Neuter		Masculine	Feminine	Neuter		Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative		τέλειος téleios	τελείᾱ teleíā	τέλειον téleion		τελείω teleíō	τελείᾱ teleíā	τελείω teleíō		τέλειοι téleioi	τέλειαι téleiai	τέλειᾰ téleiă
Genitive		τελείου teleíou	τελείᾱς teleíās	τελείου teleíou		τελείοιν teleíoin	τελείαιν teleíain	τελείοιν teleíoin		τελείων teleíōn	τελείων teleíōn	τελείων teleíōn
Dative		τελείῳ teleíōi	τελείᾳ teleíāi	τελείῳ teleíōi		τελείοιν teleíoin	τελείαιν teleíain	τελείοιν teleíoin		τελείοις teleíois	τελείαις teleíais	τελείοις teleíois
Accusative		τέλειον téleion	τελείᾱν teleíān	τέλειον téleion		τελείω teleíō	τελείᾱ teleíā	τελείω teleíō		τελείους teleíous	τελείᾱς teleíās	τέλειᾰ téleiă
Vocative		τέλειε téleie	τελείᾱ teleíā	τέλειον téleion		τελείω teleíō	τελείᾱ teleíā	τελείω teleíō		τέλειοι téleioi	τέλειαι téleiai	τέλειᾰ téleiă
Derived forms		Adverb				Comparative				Superlative
		τελείως teleíōs				τελεώτερος / τελειότερος teleṓteros / teleióteros				τελεώτατος / τελειότατος teleṓtatos / teleiótatos
Notes:		This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

• τελειόω (teleióō)

Further reading

• “τέλειος”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “τέλειος”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “τέλειος”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• τέλειος in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• τέλειος in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• “τέλειος”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
• G5046 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • absolute idem, page 4.
  • accomplished idem, page 6.
  • complete idem, page 152.
  • comprehensive idem, page 153.
  • consummate idem, page 166.
  • entire idem, page 277.
  • faultless idem, page 311.
  • final idem, page 320.
  • finished idem, page 321.
  • flawless idem, page 326.
  • fulfilled idem, page 348.
  • full idem, page 348.
  • ideal idem, page 413.
  • mature idem, page 518.
  • perfect idem, page 607.
  • ripe idem, page 716.
  • thorough idem, page 868.

Greek

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈte.li.os/
• Hyphenation: τέ‧λει‧ος

Adjective

τέλειος • (téleios) m (feminine τέλεια, neuter τέλειο)

1. perfect, ideal, complete

Declension

Declension of τέλειος

	singular				plural
	masculine	feminine	neuter		masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	τέλειος (téleios)	τέλεια (téleia)	τέλειο (téleio)		τέλειοι (téleioi)	τέλειες (téleies)	τέλεια (téleia)
genitive	τέλειου (téleiou)	τέλειας (téleias)	τέλειου (téleiou)		τέλειων (téleion)	τέλειων (téleion)	τέλειων (téleion)
accusative	τέλειο (téleio)	τέλεια (téleia)	τέλειο (téleio)		τέλειους (téleious)	τέλειες (téleies)	τέλεια (téleia)
vocative	τέλειε (téleie)	τέλεια (téleia)	τέλειο (téleio)		τέλειοι (téleioi)	τέλειες (téleies)	τέλεια (téleia)

Derivations:
Comparative: πιο + positive forms (e.g. πιο τέλειος, etc.)
Relative superlative: definite article + πιο + positive forms (e.g. ο πιο τέλειος, etc.)

Degrees of comparison by suffixation

comparative (?) singular plural masculine feminine neuter masculine feminine neuter nominative τελειότερος (teleióteros) τελειότερη (teleióteri) τελειότερο (teleiótero) τελειότεροι (teleióteroi) τελειότερες (teleióteres) τελειότερα (teleiótera) genitive τελειότερου (teleióterou) τελειότερης (teleióteris) τελειότερου (teleióterou) τελειότερων (teleióteron) τελειότερων (teleióteron) τελειότερων (teleióteron) accusative τελειότερο (teleiótero) τελειότερη (teleióteri) τελειότερο (teleiótero) τελειότερους (teleióterous) τελειότερες (teleióteres) τελειότερα (teleiótera) vocative τελειότερε (teleiótere) τελειότερη (teleióteri) τελειότερο (teleiótero) τελειότεροι (teleióteroi) τελειότερες (teleióteres) τελειότερα (teleiótera) Derivations: relative superlative: ο + comparative forms (eg "ο τελειότερος", etc) absolute superlative (?) singular plural masculine feminine neuter masculine feminine neuter nominative τελειότατος (teleiótatos) τελειότατη (teleiótati) τελειότατο (teleiótato) τελειότατοι (teleiótatoi) τελειότατες (teleiótates) τελειότατα (teleiótata) genitive τελειότατου (teleiótatou) τελειότατης (teleiótatis) τελειότατου (teleiótatou) τελειότατων (teleiótaton) τελειότατων (teleiótaton) τελειότατων (teleiótaton) accusative τελειότατο (teleiótato) τελειότατη (teleiótati) τελειότατο (teleiótato) τελειότατους (teleiótatous) τελειότατες (teleiótates) τελειότατα (teleiótata) vocative τελειότατε (teleiótate) τελειότατη (teleiótati) τελειότατο (teleiótato) τελειότατοι (teleiótatoi) τελειότατες (teleiótates) τελειότατα (teleiótata)

Related terms

• ατελειοποίητος (ateleiopoíitos, “unperfected”)
• αυτοτελειοποίηση f (aftoteleiopoíisi, “self-perfectionment”)
• τέλεια (téleia, “perfectly”, adverb)
• τελεία f (teleía, “full stop, period”) (punctuation mark)
• τελειοθηρία f (teleiothiría, “perfectionism”)
• τελειομανής (teleiomanís, “perfectionist”)
• τελειομανία f (teleiomanía, “perfectionism”)
• τελειοποιημένος (teleiopoiiménos, “perfected”, participle)
• τελειοποίηση f (teleiopoíisi, “perfectation”)
• τελειοποιώ (teleiopoió, “make perfect”)
• τελειότητα f (teleiótita, “perfection”)
• τελειόφοιτος (teleiófoitos, “graduate student”)
• τελείωμα n (teleíoma, “completion”)
• τελειωμός m (teleiomós, “completion”)
• τελειώνω (teleióno, “complete, finish”)
• τελείως (teleíos, “completely”, adverb)
• τελείωση f (teleíosi, “completion”)
• τελειωτικός (teleiotikós, “finite”)